Women's Basketball

Santa Clara Women Run Streak To Nine Games

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - It was only appropriate
that on Senior Night, the Santa Clara women's basketball team was
paced by seniors Michelle Cozad and
Kayla Huss to
a 67-53 victory over the San Francisco Dons Friday night at the
Leavey Center.

The win extends Santa Clara's streak to nine games, the longest
such run by a Broncos squad in 13 years. In 1992-93, the Santa
Clara women won 11 games in a row.

With Loyola Marymount's loss to Pepperdine Thursday night
putting the Broncos alone at the top of the West Coast Conference,
Santa Clara needed to make a statement with a big win over the San
Francisco Dons, especially with head-to-head matchups with both the
Lions and Waves looming next week.

After being honored in a pregame ceremony along with four-year
Team Manager Heidi Spurgeon,
Cozad and Huss accounted for over half of SCU's total offense as
Cozad scored 23 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, while
Huss ended up with 15 points and five assists of her own.

Huss and Cozad got things off to a rousing start for the
Broncos, scoring 19 of the team's first 24 points in building a
24-11 lead 12 minutes in.

For the rest of the half the Broncos refused to allow the Dons
to find a rhythm, forcing them into 11 turnovers and limiting them
to only 33.3% shooting from the field.

Cozad's 12 points and nine rebounds in the first 20 minutes
allowed the Broncos to head into the locker room at the break with
a 34-22 advantage.

The Broncos maintained their double-digit lead throughout the
second half as Cozad and Huss continued their inspired play on
their night. Each time USF showed glimpses of gaining some
momentum, there was a Bronco there to slam the door, as when Anna Martin
drained a three from the top of the key to give SCU a 54-40 lead
with 9:55 remaining.

From there the margin stayed around the mid-teens as Santa Clara
continued to harass the San Francisco offense and cause general
chaos.

The first-place Santa Clara Broncos will now travel to the
greater Los Angeles area to close out the regular season and
hopefully earn their first regular-season WCC title since 2000-01.
Thursday night marks the much-anticipated showdown with
second-place Loyola Marymount, with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.
Following that game the Broncos will head to Malibu to close out
the conference slate against the Waves in a 2 p.m. Saturday
afternoon contest.